Human rights situation in the OT – Note verbale from LAS

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED

ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE

Note verbale dated 4 December 1995 from the League of Arab States,

addressed to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights

The Permanent Mission of the League of Arab States to the United Nations Office at Geneva presents its compliments to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights at Geneva and has the honour to transmit herewith the monthly report on Israeli practices in the Palestinian and occupied Arab territories during October 1995.

The Permanent Mission of the League of Arab States wishes to express its deep concern at the aggravation of the situation of Arab civilians in the territories occupied by Israel, as described in the attached report.  It requests the United Nations Centre for Human Rights to consider this report as an official document and to circulate it to the members of the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-second session.

Monthly report on Israeli violations in the

occupied territories in October 1995

On the whole, the Israeli violations in the month of October 1995 show that the occupation authorities continued to pursue their practices, which were incompatible not only with the peace process in the region but also with the international rules and conventions concerning human rights.  Those practices included, in particular, the sealing-off of the West Bank during the period from 27 September to 17 October 1995 and the sealing-off of the Gaza Strip during the period from 20 September to 17 October 1995 and once again on 29 October 1995, which caused severe damage to the Palestinian economic structure in addition to the damage that had already been caused to the infrastructure of the occupied territories due to the previous repeated closures of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which have been closed for a total of 212 days during the last 14 months, during which the financial losses were estimated at $6 million per day (Al-Quds, 8/10/1995).  This was in addition to the losses suffered in most aspects of daily life in the occupied territories, which were turned into a huge prison in which the lives of their residents became extremely difficult and hard to bear.

The peace process itself was repeatedly violated by Israel, whose Government failed to abide by the agreement that was signed recently at the White House in the United States of America (Oslo 2) either in regard to the release of the female Palestinian detainees or the redeployment of the Israeli army in the West Bank.  The agreement stipulated that the first batch of released detainees would include the elderly, the sick and the young, as well as those who had served two thirds of their sentences.  Israel has not yet complied with that stipulation, since it has released only a very limited number of detainees.

Israel also violated the redeployment agreement by postponing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian towns on more than one occasion.  Israel submitted a withdrawal schedule that postponed the departure of its forces from those towns for several months after the deadline specified in the agreement.

In view of Israel's postponement of the negotiations, the policy of delay and procrastination that it is pursuing, its failure to respect the dates specified in the texts of the agreements, its adoption of unilateral measures and its continuation of its old method and course of action, which prevented the economic development and investment in the occupied territories that had been expected after the signing of the peace agreement, Palestinian businessmen in the West Bank and Gaza Strip issued a declaration on 12 October 1995 to the effect that it was impossible for them to participate in the Middle East and North African Economic Summit, which was held at Amman from 29 to 31 October 1995.  They called upon the Arab and foreign delegations attending that conference to bring pressure to bear on Israel with a view to forcing it to abandon the policy that it was applying in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Moreover, in spite of the Israeli Government's decision, taken three years earlier, to freeze settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories, it continued to implement its settlement programmes by constructing new residential units at existing settlements and expropriating more Arab land for purposes of settlement or the construction of bypass roads ostensibly so that the settlers would not have to pass through areas from which the Israeli army would be withdrawing.  However, the ultimate objective was not simply to construct those roads; it was to expropriate the maximum area of occupied land in order to preclude the geographical unification of the Palestinian towns, villages and camps, disrupt economic projects in general and agricultural projects in particular, demolish the dwellings that had been built on that land, disperse the owners and deprive them of their sources of livelihood and stability.

The details of these Israeli violations, as monitored in the Arab information media and newspapers published at Jerusalem, are as follows:

I.  CONFISCATION OF LAND AND CONSTRUCTION OF BYPASS ROADS

During the month of October 1995, the Israeli authorities confiscated 6,797 dunums of land in the West Bank as shown below:

The Israeli authorities are taking numerous measures to confiscate further areas of land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, particularly for the construction of bypass roads on which the following reports were received during the month of October 1995:

(a) The Israeli civil administration officer in the village of Hawwara/Nablus informed the heads of the villages of Izmut, Deir al-Hatab, Salim, Beit Dajan, Beit Furik, Awarta and Burin that the Israeli authorities intended to construct a 24-km road to link the settlement of Elon Moreh to the settlements of Gamrat, Namura, Itamar and Yitzhar (Al-Nahar, 5/10/1995);

(b) The Israeli authorities informed the inhabitants of a number of villages situated in the vicinity of Jenin that it had been decided to confiscate large areas of their land in order to construct a bypass road, 200 m long and 10 m wide, near the settlements of Ganim and Ganin passing through land belonging to Deir Ghazala, Deir Abu Da'if, Jenin and Arraba and extending as far as Jalama (Al-Nahar, 6/10/1995);

(c) Israeli bulldozers began to construct a bypass road around Hebron.  The road will require the expropriation of 20 dunums of land belong to the village of Halhul and will lead to the demolition of 16 houses (Al-Quds, 11/10/1995);

  (d) The Israeli authorities have completed the construction of a bypass road situated in the "Martyrs' Triangle" area at Jenin (Al-Quds, 15/10/1995);

(e) The Israeli authorities have completed the bypass road around the villages of Arraba, Jalama and Deir along the "green line" in the district of Jenin (Al-Quds, 15/10/1995);

(f) Israeli bulldozers have begun to level hundreds of dunums of land cultivated with irrigated long-life fruit-bearing olive trees in order to construct a bypass road linking the settlement of Kawkab al-Sabah, which was established on land belonging to the villages of Deir Jarir and Kafr Malik (to the east of Ramallah), to the settlement of Ofra, which was established on land belonging to Ain Yabrud and Silwan (Al-Quds, 17/10/1995);

(g) Israeli bulldozers have constructed a bypass road on land belonging to the village of Turmusaiya on the Kafr Suna plain to the east of the settlement of Shilo, which was established on land belonging to Turmusaiya and Sinjil/Ramallah (Al-Quds, 23/10/1995);

(h) The Israeli authorities will be constructing a bypass road around Hebron between Kiryat Arba and Kfar Etzion which will cross land belonging to several villages.  The area of land expropriated for this road is estimated at about 2,500 dunums owned by 213 Palestinian citizens (Al-Quds, 25/10/1995);

(i) On 24 October 1995, Binyamin ben Eliazar opened a bypass road around the settlement of Maaleh Adumim which, during the past two years, has cost $10 million.  This road involved the closure of part of the main highway between Eizariya and Jericho (Al-Quds, 25/10/1995).

In addition to the bypass roads, other types of measures are being taken that will lead to the expropriation of more land in the West Bank.  These measures include walls to separate the settlements from the Palestinian territories surrounding them.  The Israeli army has announced that it intends to build walls around the Israeli settlements at a distance of 50 metres from the most outlying building in each settlement (Al-Quds, 20/10/1995).

The Israeli army has recently spent about $330,000 on security fortifications at two small settlements (Ganim and Karim, inhabited by 200 settlers) situated near the town of Jenin.  The fortifications include a strong wall and more than one emergency warning network (Al-Nahar, 27/10/1995).

The Israeli authorities also intend to construct a wall between those two settlements and the area administered by the Palestinian authority situated between the towns of Tulkarm and Qalqiliya (Al-Quds, 20/10/1995).

II.  SETTLEMENTS

With regard to new settlements, the Israeli Government has authorized the Ministry of Construction and Housing to begin the implementation of plans for the construction of a new settlement known as Har Homa on land at Jabal Ghanim in the southern suburbs of East Jerusalem.  The new settlement, comprising 6,500 housing units, will cover an area of 1,800 dunums belonging to the villages of Sur Bahir and Umm Tuba (Al-Nahar, 2/10/1995).

Newspaper reports also indicted that the Israeli Prime Minister will soon be approving a scheme for a settlement extension between the settlement of Maaleh Adumim and the city of Jerusalem with a view to annexing that settlement to the city and, at the time of the final political settlement, regarding it as one of the Jewish residential areas established at Jerusalem behind the "green line".  This scheme involves an area of 4,000 dunums to the north-east of the road leading from French Hill to Maaleh Adumim.  Hotels containing 2,400 rooms, as well as tourist parks and 1,500 housing units, will be constructed in this area (Al-Quds, 14/10/1995).

A report published by the Israeli "Peace now" movement on 12 October 1995 indicated that a start had been made in 1995 on the construction of 1,400 dwellings in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  This constitutes the highest figure for three years.  The report went on to say that 6,000 housing units were being constructed in order to increase the number of Israelis in the new Jewish settlements constructed at Jerusalem by 24,000.  According to the report, the construction operations during the current year were the most extensive since Yitzhak Rabin's Government came to power in July 1992  (Al-Quds, 13/10/1995).

On 26 October 1995, the Israeli Prime Minister announced that, since the cessation of the settlement planning measures in the West Bank in January 1993 in accordance with the Israeli Government's decision, the Exemptions Committee that had been formed to examine construction applications from settlers had approved 417 construction applications at settlements.  These included detailed structural plans for the development and expansion of existing settlements and their residential areas (Al-Quds, 27/10/1995).  

The Israeli authorities have also erected two mobile homes in the Tell Rumaidha settlement area in the heart of the town of Hebron on land belonging to Palestinian citizens (Al-Nahar, 1/11/1995).

III.  ATTACKS ON ARAB CITIZENS AND THEIR PROPERTY

The Israeli authorities continued their acts of aggression against Arab citizens.  These acts included daily raids on houses, the arrest of young Arabs and the closure of higher educational institutions, institutes and universities.  These acts of aggression against Arab citizens and their property and lands are detailed below:

A.  Encroachments on land

The Israeli authorities bulldozed and uprooted hundreds of trees in numerous areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip on various pretexts.  These encroachments are illustrated by the following:

Other encroachments, consisting in the levelling of areas of cultivated land, were also committed by soldiers and settlers at Jit and Kafr Quaddum (Tulkarm), Kafr Malik, Abud, Kawkab al-Sabah, Silwad and Mughaiyir (Ramallah), Halhul and Taffuh (Hebron), and Salfit, Qaryut and Jamma'in (Nablus).

B.  Attacks on Arab citizens and their property

The acts of aggression committed by soldiers and Jewish settlers against the persons and property of the Arab population of the occupied Palestinian territories in October 1995 are illustrated by the following:

(a) Extremist settlers from the settlement of Yitzhar stole 71 head of sheep belonging to residents of the village of Burin to the south of Nablus (Al-Nahar, 2/10/1995);

(b) On the morning of 1 October 1995, settlers from the Jordan Valley area closed the highway leading to the King Hussein Bridge, interrupting the flow of traffic to Jordan (Al-Nahar, 2/10/1995);

(c) The Israeli army beat up a young Palestinian from Qalqiliya, who suffered fairly severe injuries to the head and was taken to hospital (Al-Quds, 4/10/1995);

(d) Israeli forces confiscated a herd of cattle consisting of 30 cows on the pretext that the herd had entered land situated inside the "green line" (Al-Nahar, 5/10/1995);

(e) Throughout the night of 3 October and the morning of 4 October 1995, Israeli settlers attacked dozens of Palestinian-owned vehicles to the north of Jerusalem near the settlement of Maaleh Adumim.  The settlers threw stones and empty bottles at the vehicles, breaking their windows (Al-Quds, 5/10/1995);

(f) On 4 October 1995, more than 150 settlers from settlements along the "green line" attempted to force their way into the town of Qalqiliya (Al-Ittihad, 5/10/1995);

(g) The population of the village of Beit Ta'mur at Bethlehem are being endangered by the mines that the Israeli army is currently laying during its military training exercises (Al-Quds, 6/10/1995);

(h) Abd Rabbuh Abu Eisha, a Palestinian citizen, was severely wounded in the head when he was hit by an Israeli military patrol vehicle during a Palestinian demonstration in Hebron town centre (Al Nahar, 8/10/1995);

(i) Israeli occupation forces raided the village of Sila in the district of Jenin.  They forced their way into many houses, searched them and handed their owners summonses to appear before the Civil Administration (Al-Quds, 10/10/1995);

(j) Settlers from Givat Har Sina attacked the house of a resident of Hebron situated near the settlement.  The windows of the house were broken and its occupants were injured and terrorized (Al-Nahar, 12/10/1995);

(k) Five armed settlers from the settlement of Maaleh Amos attacked a herd of sheep belonging to members of the Rashaida tribe to the south of Bethlehem.  They took away many of the sheep and closed the highway skirting the settlement and leading to the Rashaida area (Al-Nahar, 12/10/1995);

(l) A settler from Karnei Shomron, accompanied by his sons, attacked farmers at the village of Jinsafut and prevented them from harvesting their olives (Al-Nahar, 13/10/1995);

(m) More than 20 settlers from Amitzhar attacked and severely beat up farmers from Burin (Al-Quds, 15/10/1995);

(n) Israeli forces raided the village of Yamun in the district of Jenin.  They stopped young men, checked their personal identity cards and broke down the main door of the preventive security office in the village (Al-Nahar, 15/10/1995);

(o) Israeli forces raided many Fatah offices at Jenin.  The soldiers searched them, ransacked their contents and broke their furniture (Al-Nahar, 15/10/1995);

(p) Settlers from Kiryat Arba attacked the house of a Palestinian situated near the settlement.  This house is constantly being stoned and attacked by settlers (Al-Nahar, 16/10/1995);

(q) On 15 October 1995, a group of settlers attacked the Shalala area of Hebron, committed acts of aggression against Palestinian property and broke the windows of vehicles (Al-Nahar, 16/10/1995);

(r) Four young Palestinians yesterday suffered gunshot wounds during violent confrontations with the guards of an Israeli vehicle passing through the centre of the village of Tubas (Al-Nahar, 20/10/1995);

(s) A group of settlers destroyed the contents of a shop owned by a female resident of Nablus, fired shots in the air and then fled (Al-Quds, 25/10/1995);

(t) Settlers broke the windows of a number of Arab vehicles which were parked in front of the houses of their owners on the main road skirting the old Askar camp (Al-Quds, 26/10/1995);

(u) Settlers set up a roadblock on the settlement road skirting the village of Jamma'in.  They prevented Arab vehicles from passing and threw stones at some of them (Al-Nahar, 26/10/1995);

(v) Settlers attacked the house of a resident of Hebron, threw stones at it and attempted to force their way inside (Al-Nahar, 27/10/1995);

(w) Settlers set fire to dozens of vehicles parked in front of the houses of their owners (Al-Nahar, 27/10/1995).

IV.  ISRAELI PRACTICES IN VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

A.  Arrests

1.  Mass arrests

In October 1995, occupation forces raided and searched many Arab villages and towns.  They also raided workshops inside Israel and arrested dozens of Palestinian workers on the pretext that they had not obtained permits to work inside the "green line".

The number of Palestinians arrested during this large-scale campaign in October 1995 amounted to about 2,150.

These mass arrests during the month are illustrated by the following:

2.  Administrative detention

In October 1995, the Israeli military authorities issued 34 administrative detention orders against Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip for periods ranging from one month to a whole year.  The Israeli authorities also extended the administrative detention of about 19 detainees for periods ranging from 4 to 6 months.

3.  Sentences passed on Arab citizens

During the month, 182 detainees appeared before Israeli military courts in the West Bank on various charges including entering Israel without a permit, participation in demonstrations and membership of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.  The sentences handed down against them ranged from short periods of detention amounting to not less than 48 hours to long sentences of up to 25 years (as reported in editions of Jerusalem newspapers from 1 October to 1 November 1995).

Most of the persons sentenced were young men who were fined an average of 585 shekels each.  The total of these fines was estimated at about 48,000 Israeli shekels, i.e. about US$ 16,000.

4.  Conditions of detention and ill-treatment of detainees

The Israeli authorities are continuing their violations of human rights in their detention centres and prisons.  Many sources affirm that the authorities are using cruel and illegal methods to extract confessions from Palestinian detainees in a manner inconsistent with international law and conventions.

As a result, strikes took place in all the Israeli prisons and detention centres due to the provocative manner in which detainees are ill-treated in those prisons through the use of internationally prohibited methods, prevention of visits to detainees and solitary confinement.  At Fari'a prison, the detainees went on hunger strike in an endeavour to induce the Israeli authorities to cease their practices involving psychological and physical coercion of detainees.

A report published by a human rights organization described the situation of Palestinians detained for entering Israel illegally as extremely difficult, since about 20 detainees were being held in each 8-bed cell and many of them were therefore forced to sleep on the floor without bedding.

Particularly since the recent conclusion of agreements concerning the release of detainees, the Palestinian detainees have been living in a very tense psychological atmosphere.  After the Israeli and Palestinian sides had agreed that Israel would release the male and female detainees in two phases, Israel went back on its agreement and began to obstruct the release of the detainees and, in particular, of a number of female Palestinian detainees.  In a new escalation of violations by the prison administrations, the Committee on Palestinian Prisoners affirmed in one of its declarations that the concealment of detainees for long periods of time had become a normal practice of the Department of Prisons.  It indicated that 28 Palestinians had been arrested and taken from their homes two months ago and the authorities were still denying their presence in Israeli prisons.

B.  Restrictions on freedom of movement and travel

A security cordon was imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip from the end of September until 17 October 1995.

In a reaction to this security cordon, Hassan Usfour, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said that those closures were incompatible with the peace process and struck a blow at aspirations for peace between the two parties.  Hajj Hashim Abdul Nabi al-Natsheh, the President of the Board of Trade and Industry of the governorate of Hebron, described the economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza as tragic, since the daily material losses caused by the security cordon amounted to $5 million.  He indicated that the damage had affected all aspects of daily life in all towns and villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

With regard to the health situation, Palestinian officials at the Ministry of Health warned that the condition of dozens of sick persons in the Gaza Strip was deteriorating due to the Israeli authorities' continued refusal to grant them permits even though they had obtained medical reports and hospital appointments that they had to keep.

This security cordon has also had a highly adverse affect on the standard of education in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, since the Israeli authorities have prevented students living in the Gaza Strip from attending their universities, thereby delaying the progress of their studies.

In addition, after announcing the lifting of the security cordon on 17 October 1995, the Israeli authorities imposed further conditions limiting the number of workers permitted to work in Israel.  About 7,000 workers who had been permitted to enter Israel before the imposition of this cordon were thereby excluded.  This embargo also applied to truck drivers under 35 years of age, some sick persons and lawyers wishing to visit prisoners and detainees.  

It is noteworthy that the Israeli authorities once again closed the Gaza Strip on 30 October 1995.  

The authorities also sealed off some roads and towns, which were declared closed military zones:  

(a) Highway No. 90, which passes through Jericho, was closed (Al-Quds, 11/10/1995);

(b) The Qasaba area in the town of Hebron was closed and declared a closed military zone (Al-Nahar, 31/10/1995);

(c) The area around Shu'fat camp to the north of Jerusalem was closed on the morning of 31 October 1995 (Al-Nahar, 1/11/1995).

C.  Demolition of houses

In October 1995, the Israeli authorities demolished 10 houses in various Arab districts.  The demolition of some of these houses was ordered on the pretext of the need to expand the area in which some military training exercises were being held or on the pretext that they had been built without a permit.

The following list gives the names of the owners of the houses which were demolished by occupation forces in October 1995, as well as the location of the house, the reason for its demolition and the source of the report.  

D.  Violations against holy places

During excavation operations, the Israeli Department of Antiquities dug up more than 100 Islamic graves in the courtyard of Shaikh Ghanim's tomb at Jerusalem (Al-Quds, 9/10/1995).

The Israeli authorities closed the Ibrahimi Mosque at Hebron to Muslim worshippers from 3 to 5 October 1995 on the pretext of celebrations on the occasion of the Jewish Day of Atonement (Al-Quds, 4/10/1995).

On 10 and 11 October 1995, the Israeli authorities closed the Ibrahimi Mosque at Hebron to Muslim worshippers on the pretext of Jewish religious celebrations (Al-Quds, 11/10/1995).

A group from the "Hai va Kiyam" movement attempted to force their way into the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, ostensibly to pray there (Al-Ittihad, 12/10/1995).

Twelve Jewish extremists attempted to force their way into the Haram al-Sharif at Jerusalem (Al-Ittihad, 16/10/1995).

The Israeli authorities decided to close the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim worshippers (Al-Ittihad, 16/10/1995).

A group of Jewish extremists attempted to force their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Asbat Gate (Al-Nahar, 20/10/1995).

E.  Violations against educational institutions

A group of Jewish settlers once again raided the Qurtuba Elementary School for Girls and attempted to lower the Palestinian flag (Al-Quds, 4/10/1995).  

A number of settlers attacked pupils of the Qurtuba School for Girls at Hebron while they were returning home after the school's headmistress had refused to sign an undertaking not to raise the Palestinian flag over the school (Al-Nahar, 8/10/1995).

A group of Israeli soldiers raided the Ramallah Secondary School for Boys and attempted to lower the Palestinian flag that had been raised over the school (Al-Quds, 24/10/1995).

A group of Jewish extremists set fire to a secondary school at Nablus (Al-Ittihad, 24/10/1995).

Settlers from Beit Hadassah attacked pupils and teachers of the Qurtuba Elementary School at Hebron after forcing their way inside.  Seven girl pupils suffered slight injuries (Al-Quds, 1/11/1995).

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